Reporting on the Day After

This Week: The Look Ahead

It’s undeniable: The return of Donald Trump to the White House delivers “a body blow” to the fight against climate change, write Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman in The New York Times. In this newsletter, we’ve chronicled the connection to extreme weather events, the ensuing health risks and unnecessary loss of life, rising insurance rates, increased vulnerability of financial loss for renters, the cost of food, and a decrease in income. All are likely to be made worse by the fact that American climate policy will be led by a climate denier.

But it’s also worth noting two important counterpoints: First, a lot of climate progress is already underway, and can’t be undone. And polls continue to show widespread public support for public action, even though many Americans voted for a presidential candidate who holds the opposite view. Understanding and reporting on that disconnect is an important first step for reporters across the country.

With “roughly 80% of the money spent so far” from the Inflation Reduction Act going to Republican congressional districts, lawmakers and business leaders in those districts will likely work to protect those investments. A group of Republican House members already reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year asking that clean energy tax credits be saved. As they did during Trump’s first term, local leaders concerned about climate change will do what they can to counter what happens at the federal level. As climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe pointed out to Carbon Brief, “Groups such as the US Climate Alliance, Climate Mayors and America Is All In represent nearly two-thirds of the US.” Added to that is the global economic momentum of clean energy markets.

“No matter what Trump may say, the shift to clean energy is unstoppable and our country is not turning back,” said Gina McCarthy, President Joe Biden’s former climate adviser and current co-chair of the America Is All In, a coalition of climate-concerned states and cities.

Amidst the climate wreckage from Election Day, there were a few bright spots pointing to the fact that Americans do care about climate action. Californians approved proposition 4, allowing the legislature to borrow $10 billion for water, wildfire, climate projects. In Washington state, voters rejected a proposition that would have overturned that state’s Climate Commitment Act which fines polluters to fund climate action. Ballot initiatives “to fund conservation or climate resilience” also passed in California, Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Rhode Island, reports Grist.

While the fact of climate change and its causes is crystal clear, the politics of climate in the US is complicated. State elected officials welcome IRA money but praise the incoming administration. Voters want climate action, but vote for opposing candidates. Exploring those complexities will be the job of journalists in the weeks and months to come.

Take Inspiration

Analysis of the climate stakes of the 2024 election. 

• “Trump Wins, Planet Loses,” was Grist’s headline on Wednesday. Tik Root writes that “with control of the White House and the Senate, Republicans are poised to upend U.S. climate policy.”
• “Donald Trump’s new term as US president poses a grave threat to the planet if it blows up the international effort to curb dangerous global heating, stunned climate experts have warned in the wake of his decisive election victory,” write Oliver Milman and Ajit Niranjan at the Guardian.
• Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport write in The New York Times about “What Trump’s Victory Means for Climate Change.”
• “When Republicans flipped the Senate, they took the keys to three critical energy and climate-focused committees,” writes Katie Brigham at Heatmap News.
• Stateline’s Alex Brown published a nice roundup of state climate plans that could be upended by the change in the White House. (republishable)